(from Cathy Fleischer at Eastern Michigan University)
Profile of Writing Partner Profile of your writing partner This paper should serve as the culmination of your writing partner project with your student from the middle school. The goal is twofold: (1) to encourage you to sift through all the material you’ve gathered so far about this student so that you can make sense of him/her as a student writer; and (2) to help you think about this student as a example of who your student writers might be when you begin teaching and to consider what this student teaches you about how you should keep in mind when you eventually teach writing.
This paper, then, should help you reach some conclusions about your writing partner, but it should also lead you toward some important questions that you’ll want to consider about your own teaching. Remember to think of the paper not as a conclusive scholarly study, but rather as, “Here’s what I think now about this student writer, and here are questions that, if I were his/her teachers, I’d want to keep exploring.”
This search will certainly require you to study carefully your student’s letters, pieces of writing, and writing/reading survey (if you choose to ask your partner to complete one). If you were able to interview your student, you may also include notes from that. Your search may also lead you to refer to readings we’ve done for class and readings you’ve done outside class.
In our examination of other profiles, we noticed four main categories: observations, skills/strengths, interests (literacy, outside school), suggestions (in our case, the suggestions will be for your writing partner’s teacher and student teacher).
The vitals: · Should be 3-5 pages long; · Should mask the name of the student; (We’ll put post-it notes for names of students for when I give the profiles to the teacher) · Should be “theme-based,” ie, should make an argument of sorts about who your writer is; · Should use lots of examples from your writing partner’s writing as evidence (could be the letters themselves or other pieces of writing); · Should consider what this experience means for you as a future teacher. Due date: December 3 Final Draft of Profile (or would it be better for you if this was a rough draft on this date, and the final draft is due a week later? What would be most helpful for you?)
Criteria Does the portrait have a central theme about the student writer?
Does the portrait contain sufficient information about the student that supports the theme?
Does it include at least some of the following:
• evaluation of the student as writer
• response to the student’s writing
• explanation of the student’s process of writing
personal characteristics, experiences that relate to his/her writing
Does the portrait contain sufficient examples that illustrate the student as writer?
• quotes from letters
• quotes and analysis from the student’s actual writing
• overall impressions from reading the student’s work
and the letters
Does the portrait raise questions that have grown out of the study, questions about teaching this student in particular or students in general?
Is the portrait written in an organized fashion, so it’s easy for the reader to follow
the flow?
Does the case study have an appropriate conclusion?
Information for ENGL 301 and ENGL481 for Fall 2009 below
Here is a copy of our syllabi ...
the one for Teaching English Composition ( Teaching English Composition.doc) and
the one for Literature Use in Secondary Schools ( Literature Use in Sec Schools.doc)
Assignment checklist and due dates for Teaching English Composition
Assignment checklist and due dates for Literature Use in Secondary Schools
Calendar of Project Due Dates in both classes
Genre Challenge Assignment Sheet
Genre Challenge Checklist
(from Cathy Fleischer at Eastern Michigan University)
Profile of Writing Partner
Profile of your writing partner
This paper should serve as the culmination of your writing partner project with your student from the middle school. The goal is twofold: (1) to encourage you to sift through all the material you’ve gathered so far about this student so that you can make sense of him/her as a student writer; and (2) to help you think about this student as a example of who your student writers might be when you begin teaching and to consider what this student teaches you about how you should keep in mind when you eventually teach writing.
This paper, then, should help you reach some conclusions about your writing partner, but it should also lead you toward some important questions that you’ll want to consider about your own teaching. Remember to think of the paper not as a conclusive scholarly study, but rather as, “Here’s what I think now about this student writer, and here are questions that, if I were his/her teachers, I’d want to keep exploring.”
This search will certainly require you to study carefully your student’s letters, pieces of writing, and writing/reading survey (if you choose to ask your partner to complete one). If you were able to interview your student, you may also include notes from that. Your search may also lead you to refer to readings we’ve done for class and readings you’ve done outside class.
In our examination of other profiles, we noticed four main categories: observations, skills/strengths, interests (literacy, outside school), suggestions (in our case, the suggestions will be for your writing partner’s teacher and student teacher).
The vitals:
· Should be 3-5 pages long;
· Should mask the name of the student; (We’ll put post-it notes for names of students for when I give the profiles to the teacher)
· Should be “theme-based,” ie, should make an argument of sorts about who your writer is;
· Should use lots of examples from your writing partner’s writing as evidence (could be the letters themselves or other pieces of writing);
· Should consider what this experience means for you as a future teacher.
Due date:
December 3 Final Draft of Profile (or would it be better for you if this was a rough draft on this date, and the final draft is due a week later? What would be most helpful for you?)
Criteria
Does the portrait have a central theme about the student writer?
Does the portrait contain sufficient information about the student that supports the theme?
Does it include at least some of the following:
• evaluation of the student as writer
• response to the student’s writing
• explanation of the student’s process of writing
Does the portrait contain sufficient examples that illustrate the student as writer?
• quotes from letters
• quotes and analysis from the student’s actual writing
• overall impressions from reading the student’s work
and the letters
Does the portrait raise questions that have grown out of the study, questions about teaching this student in particular or students in general?
Is the portrait written in an organized fashion, so it’s easy for the reader to follow
the flow?
Does the case study have an appropriate conclusion?